UP Teerth Yatra - Part 1

Trishakti Dham Temple

2025 started with almost half of India converging into Uttar Pradesh (UP) to be part of the rarest of rare Maha Kumbh. There was so much hype about this rare event and, as we had a fear of missing out, that we also decided to go. However, as we didn't want to go to one place alone, we decided to cover nearby places of pilgrimage also.

After seeing the airfares to Prayagraj shooting up on a daily basis with no respite, we felt it would be better to go via some other nearby city / town. We decided to fly down to Lucknow and return from the same city which was a round trip covering 5 important pilgrim spots.

On Day 1, we took an early morning flight which landed by 7.30 a.m. We had booked a car through Saavari.com based on a good reference from a friend. The car driver, who was scheduled to pick us at 8 a.m., arrived only at 9.30. As usual, the common excuse was shared for the delay - the allotted car met with an accident and we have given you a spare car. The driver, a young Sardar, informed us that it was his first day on this job.

From the airport, we left for Naimisharanya which was about 2 hours away. On the way, we halted for breakfast at a roadside restaurant. The hot Aloor Parathas we had with pickles was heavenly and so was the ginger (masala) tea.

Naimisharanya finds mention in the Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as in many Puranas / Kathas. Ved Vyas had His Ashram here and it is here where the Puranas were first narrated to a gathering of sages. It is a revered place in Hinduism and a cornerstone of spiritual enlightenment. The confluence of the Gomati, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sarayu, and Payaswini rivers in Naimisharanya is also considered a very holy place. 

We reached Naimisharanya by around 11.45 p.m. Some of the temples there close by 12 noon and we couldn't visit them. We took a local electric Auto and went around some temples as enumerated below.

Balaji Temple

The first place we went was to the Gomti River ghat, where I had a traditional dip after doing Sankalpam. It was quite breezy here and there were few others also having their bath here. The water was clear and flowing gently. I also did my afternoon prayers at the ghat itself.

After this, we went to a newly constructed temple called Trishakti Dham where there was a huge idol of Bhagavan Vishnu outside and the idols of Narasimha, Durga & Shiva inside. We didn't spend much time here as it is a modern temple.

We next went to the nearby Balaji Temple which is a traditional South Indian temple with a beautiful idol of Balaji. There was a group of devotees from Andhra who were sitting inside the temple and conducting an elaborate pooja. After a satisfying darshan here, we proceeded onwards.

Our next halt was Hanumanghari. This temple, also known as Bade Hanuman, has a huge 12 foot Hanuman idol. There is a mythological story about Hanuman emerging from the Patal Lok (nether world) after defeating Ahiravana and rescuing Lord Rama and Lakshman. The priests running this temple aggressively demand donations for Annadan - one needs to be aware & careful.

We also had a brief look at Pandav Qila (Fort) which is a place where the Pandavas stayed during their exile. There is a deep well nearby believed to have been dug out by the Pandavas. We did not go inside the fort which was re-constructed by a Hindu minister of Allaudin Khilji in 1305. Outside is a small shrine where one can see the idols of the five Pandavas along with Bhagavan Krishna/

We then visited Vyas Gaddhi (seat), the place where Ved Vyas composed all the Puranas. The Satyanarayan Temple is also near this. It was truly a special moment to come here and have a darshan of the holy place where He resided and wrote all the scriptures which forms a backbone for Sanatana Dharma. We also saw the nearby Havan Kund where all the sages used to conduct their religious activities.

Chakratirth

We then went to Chakratirth which is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed to be the place where 8000 sages worshipped God and performed penance at the same time. According to a mythological tale, it is the same place where the wheel (chakra) of Lord Brahma made an opening in the earth, thereby resulting in the creation of an enormous body of water. A holy dip in the water of this pond is believed to sanctify one’s mind, body and soul. We contended ourselves by washing our hands & feet here and sprinkling some water on our heads. We also visited the small temples around this pond.

We finally went to Lalitha Devi temple which is a Shakti Peeth where the heart of Devi Sati fell. The temple was small and seemed crowded with devotees. The idol was decorated in the form of a heart and we felt thrilled to have this darshan on the first day of our yatra.

We then proceeded in our car towards Ayodhya after have lunch in a restaurant called 'Treat' located just outside Naimisharanya. The food was tolerable. We took a long time to reach Ayodhya because we spent quite some time locating a CNG gas station to fill up the gas tank of the car. At the gas station, I quickly managed to finish my evening Sandhya prayers. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside dhaba for a quick dinner. The food was served piping hot and was quite tasty. It has grown quite cold by this time.

When we reached Ayodhya, we were told to leave the car at a parking on the outskirts of the city. From here, we took an electric Auto to go to our hotel which was about 4 k.m.s away. It was very cold by this time and we were ill equipped in terms of warm clothing. By the time we reached near our hotel, it was nearly 10 p.m. and we were shivering and keen to get indoors.

The auto dropped us about 100 meters from our hotel as the roads were blocked by the police. Luckily, we were escorted and helped by a policeman to reach out hotel which was an uphill walk from the road.

After we checked into the hotel, we straightaway crashed to bed as we were dead tired & sleepy. It took us some time to get sleep thanks to some loud talking happening in the corridor outside. A group of yatris were moving around talking / arguing loudly and I had to open the door to request them to cool down. 

Thus ended a very long day 1 of our yatra.